This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains documents other than rules or

proposed rules that are applicable to the

public. Notices of hearings and investigations,

committee meetings, agency decisions and

rulings, delegations of authority, filing of

petitions and applications and agency

statements of organization and functions are

examples of documents appearing in this

section.

Notices Federal Register

87735 

Vol. 88, No. 242 

Tuesday, December 19, 2023 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Submission for OMB Review; 

Comment Request 

The Department of Agriculture has 

submitted the following information 

collection requirement(s) to Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) for 

review and clearance under the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 

Public Law 104–13. Comments are 

requested regarding: whether the 

collection of information is necessary 

for the proper performance of the 

functions of the agency, including 

whether the information will have 

practical utility; the accuracy of the 

agency’s estimate of burden including 

the validity of the methodology and 

assumptions used; ways to enhance the 

quality, utility and clarity of the 

information to be collected; ways to 

minimize the burden of the collection of 

information on those who are to 

respond, including through the use of 

appropriate automated, electronic, 

mechanical, or other technological 

collection techniques or other forms of 

information technology. 

Comments regarding this information 

collection received by January 22, 2024 

will be considered. Written comments 

and recommendations for the proposed 

information collection should be 

submitted within 30 days of the 

publication of this notice on the 

following website www.reginfo.gov/ 

public/do/PRAMain. Find this 

particular information collection by 

selecting ‘‘Currently under 30-day 

Review—Open for Public Comments’’ or 

by using the search function. 

An agency may not conduct or 

sponsor a collection of information 

unless the collection of information 

displays a currently valid OMB control 

number and the agency informs 

potential persons who are to respond to 

the collection of information that such 

persons are not required to respond to 

the collection of information unless it 

displays a currently valid OMB control 

number. 

Rural Utilities Service 

Title: Rural eConnectivity 

(ReConnect) Program. 

OMB Control Number: 0572–0152. 

Summary of Collection: On March 23, 

2018, Congress passed the Consolidated 

Appropriations Act 2018 (the Fiscal 

Year 2018 Appropriations (Pub. L.115– 

141)) which established the broadband 

loan and grant Reconnect program, the 

Rural eConnectivity (ReConnect) 

Program. One of the essential goals of 

the ReConnect Program is to expand 

broadband service to rural areas without 

sufficient access to broadband, defined 

as 100 megabits per second (Mbps) 

downstream and 20 Mbps upstream. For 

this purpose, Congress provided the 

Rural Utilities Service (RUS) with $600 

million and expanded its existing 

authority to make loans and grants. 

Loans and grants are limited to the costs 

of the construction, improvement, and 

acquisition of facilities and equipment 

for broadband service in eligible 

communities. The Fiscal Year 2018 

Appropriations also authorized 

technical assistance to assist the agency 

in expanding needed service to the most 

rural communities. For fiscal year (FY) 

2019, Congress funded an additional 

$550 million for the pilot. For FY 2022, 

the ReConnect program received $800 

million. There was a second application 

round in FY 22 and the budget was 

further expanded to $1.15 billion. 

In facilitating the expansion of 

broadband services and infrastructure, 

the program will fuel long-term rural 

economic development and 

opportunities in rural America. One of 

those opportunities is precision 

agriculture (PA). PA is a new concept 

adopted in rural America used to 

increase production, reduce labor time, 

and ensure the effective management of 

fertilizers and irrigation processes. PA is 

the science of improving crop yields 

and assisting management decisions 

using high technology sensor and 

analysis tools. The use of this 

technology requires a robust broadband 

connection. The awards made under 

this program will bring high speed 

broadband to farms which will 

ultimately increase productivity. 

Need and Use of the Information: 

Pursuant to the Reconnect Program 

authorization in the Consolidated 

Appropriations Act, 2018 (Pub. L. 115– 

141, 779 (2018)), RUS is to conduct a 

Reconnect broadband program under 

the RE Act. On February 21, 2021, the 

ReConnect Regulation, 7 CFR 1740, was 

established. 7 CFR 1740.49 of the 

regulation states that applicants are 

required to submit an application for 

loans and loan guarantees containing 

the information that RUS shall require, 

and that the project meet the minimum 

level of broadband in the service area. 

7 CFR 1740.80 sets out the reporting 

requirements. 

In the broadband regulations 

implementing the RE Act broadband 

statute, 7 CFR 1740.60 contains the 

elements of the application intake that 

are required in the Reconnect program. 

Moreover, pursuant to 7 CFR 1740.44 

adequate financial, investment, 

operational, reporting, and managerial 

controls are also required in the loan 

documents. Lastly, all the certifications 

asked for are required by 7 CFR 1740.46, 

most of which are already required by 

federal law. 

The Agency is required to analyze the 

potential environmental impacts, as 

required by the National Environmental 

Policy Act (NEPA), for Applicant 

projects or proposals seeking funding. 

Applicants are encouraged to refer to 7 

CFR part 1970 for all Rural 

Development’s environmental policies. 

All Applicants must follow the 

requirements in 7 CFR part 1970 and are 

required to complete an Environmental 

Questionnaire, to provide a description 

of program activities, and to submit all 

other required environmental 

documentation as requested in the 

application system or by the Agency 

after the application is submitted. It is 

the Applicant’s responsibility to obtain 

all necessary federal, tribal, state, and 

local governmental permits and 

approvals necessary for the proposed 

work to be conducted. 

Description of Respondents: 

Businesses or other for-profits; Not-forprofit institutions. 

Number of Respondents: 480. 

Frequency of Responses: Reporting: 

On Occassion. 

Total Burden Hours: 1,468,032. 

Levi S. Harrell, 

Departmental Information Collection 

Clearance Officer. 

[FR Doc. 2023–27845 Filed 12–18–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–15–P 


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